Jane Urquhart’s PhD topic is Aboriginal fire ecology and its interconnection to the outcomes of native title as lands are restored to Indigenous ownership and burning country is incorporated with environmental work. Her research is conducted in collaboration with the Nyangumarta Warrarn Aboriginal Corporation in the Pilbara in Western Australia, and is investigating if Nyangumarta people’s cultural knowledge and practices of burning country is gendered.
Ethnographic research will identify Nyangumarta women’s interests in burning country. This research will be carried out in collaboration with Nyangumarta people’s aim to re-implement a cultural fire strategy, in conjunction with environmental imperatives to protect and conserve biodiversity in the Nyangumarta Warrarn Protected Area. The findings of this research have the potential to identify and analyse the dynamics of change and transformation occurring in power and knowledge in Nyangumarta society, with respect to contemporary gender relations and current conservation initiatives that provide a post-native title livelihood opportunity.
